Blowin' In The Wind

Jyoti Basu dies, remembered by US media and BBC

Jyoti Basu died today after prolonged illness in his hometown, Calcutta (now Kolkata). His death is being reported by not just by Indian newspapers but also by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and the BBC.

An Associated Press report published in the Journal says:

Veteran communist leader Jyoti Basu, who in 1996 came close to becoming India's prime minister, died Sunday after a prolonged illness, a party spokesman said. He was 96.

Mr. Basu became chief minister of West Bengal state in 1977 and served for 23 years, making him the longest-serving chief minister in India's political history. In 1996, a group of parties asked Mr. Basu to lead a coalition government in New Delhi. However, the communist party declined, saying it didn't want to be part of a government in which it didn't have a majority. Mr. Basu later described that decision as a "historic blunder."

The New York Times looks back on his political career :

Jyoti Basu, a powerful leftist leader who dominated politics in the state of West Bengal for more than two decades and nearly became India’s first Communist prime minister, died in Calcutta on Sunday. He was 95.

Lee Kuan Yew on India

Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew was right when he said India cannot overtake China. But I could not suppress a smile because he was suggesting growth strategies for India, which grew 7.9 per cent in the last quarter, while Singapore grew only 0.6 per cent.

But that is MM Lee --- driven and relentless, an evangelist for free trade and open markets who transformed Singapore into a First World economy --- and he was right. India has to develop its infrastructure and get rid of the red tape to achieve its full potential.

One can only wonder what India might be if it heeded his advice because, even as it is, the 16 or 17 richest Indians' combined wealth exceeds Singapore's gross domestic product. See this year's Forbes list of Indian billionaires.

However, India does not want to become another China, as the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made quite clear in an interview with Fareed Zakaria before his state visit to America last month.

It's good that India and Singapore are drawing closer together, for which one has to thank Singapore's Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong. It was he who, when he succeeded MM Lee as Prime Minister in 1990, had the vision to foresee India's economic potential and forged closer relations with the country.

China still remains a much bigger trading partner for Singapore, but imports exceed imports, according to figures from the World Trade Organization (WTO).

NTU professor named among top global thinkers

Indian political scientist C Raja Mohan at the S Rajaratnam School of Political Studies of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore has been named one of this year's Top 100 Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy magazine. He is also a columnist for the Indian Express newspaper.

Singapore will host another top global thinker when former United Nations general secretary Kofi Annan joins the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy of the National University of Singapore next year.

Also on the list is the Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Who came to Obama-Manmohan dinner

The guests included Mukesh Ambani, Michael Bloomberg, Steven Spielberg, David Geffen, Deepak Chopra, Katie Couric, Bobby Jindal, Deval Patrick, Fareed Zakraria, Sanjay Gupta, Jhumpa Lahiri, Jeffrey Katzenenberg. AR Rahman performed. Wish we could see a video of that.

Obama-Manmohan Singh dinner highlights

Dinner settings for the first Obama state banquet --- held in honour of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The guests arrive.

Barack Obama toasts Manmohan Singh

President Barack Obama toasts Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. This is the first state banquet given by President Obama.

Singh tells Obama: "Mr President, your journey to the White House has captured the imagination of millions and millions of people in India. You are an inspiration to all those who cherish the values of democracy, diversity, and equal opportunity." (Applause.)

"Mr President, I can do no better than to describe your achievements in the words of Abraham Lincoln who said -- and I quote -- "In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It is the life in your years." (Applause.)

Here's the transcript of the toasts by the two leaders issued by the White House.

Obama welcomes Manmohan Singh

President Barack Obama welcomes Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the first leader on a state visit to the Obama White House. Here's the full transcript of the joint press conference by the two leaders, issued by the White House.

Murdoch prefers India to China

Asked where he would invest if he had a couple of billion dollars to spare --- in India, China, Mexico or the United States --- Rupert Murdoch promptly answered, "India".

He said,"As against China, it has the rule of law. It's an infinitely complicated country. But it has a huge advantage over other developing countries. There is the rule of law and it does work."

Tharman: Once upon a time in the West...

Singapore Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam knows his history.

While praising the "uniqueness" of Indian democracy, he defended the East Asian model by pointing out that democracy used to be limited in Britain and America too.

"It was not until 1930 that Britain got Universal Suffrage. The US did not get Universal Suffrage until 1965," he said.

He was referring to the 1965 Voting Rights Act which made it easier for Southern blacks to register to vote after the 1964 Civil Rights Act ended racial discrimination.

Britain gave the vote to women from the age of 21 only in 1928. Only older women, from the age of 30, had been allowed to vote in Britain since 1918. 

Mr Tharman recalled: "In Britain, before the Reform Act of 1832, only 1.8 per cent of the adults had the vote. After that Act, 2.7 per cent got the vote. After the Second Reform Act of 1884, 12.1 per cent got the vote."

But while democracy was limited, there was stability, economic growth and the middle class grew, he said.

Neatly, from there, he segued to the East Asian model. "A group of men (usually men) centralised power, planned in the long term interests of the country and executed those plans quite smoothly. Some of these countries did not hold elections…

"But, on the whole, the countries progressed. People received education, were empowered, the infrastructure developed, the economies grew steadily."

India many nations, not 1 nation: Lee Kuan Yew

What will India say to this? Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has said what the Kashmiri insurgents and other separatists in northeastern India have maintained all along.

India is not one nation, he said. "It's many nations."

"It has 320 different languages and 32 official languages," he said on the Charlie Rose show.

Can Singapore then be regarded as one nation? It, too, is a multiracial country with four official languages --- Chinese, Malay, Tamil and English.

But there is one difference that gives Singapore perhaps a better claim to be a nation --- almost everybody understands English.

India, on the contrary, as MM Lee said, has "320 different languages and 32 official languages.

"So no prime minister in Delhi can at any one time speak in a language and be understand throughout the country. You can do that in Beijing."

Ah, that was how he wandered into a political minefield.

Charlie Rose wanted his opinion on China and India.